Her stock of maize will help get her family through the lean season while other farmers struggle.

JANUARY 2013 - Swaziland’s smallholder farmers face increasing difficulty making a living with traditional methods of growing maize, the staple crop. With no programmes to subsidize inputs, many farmers, unable to afford fertilizer, have seen their maize yields drop. Those who have received training in “conservation agriculture” and growing crops that are less rain-dependent than maize are faring better, but they are constrained by their lack of land tenure and inability to raise capital.